Body Weather Laboratory presentation at ΟΙκΩ ΚινΩ invited by Vasiliki Tsagkari.

The project -ΟΙκΩ- ΚινΩ- is a collective research work (or experiment) that explores various processes of interaction, fermentation, and learning among four performers/choreographers/educators (Sonia Dova, Loukiani Papadaki, Iris Nikolaou, Vasiliki Tsagari), where daily life intertwines with artistic practice.

-ΟΙκΩ- ΚινΩ- takes as its starting point the study of the archive of Raymond Duncan, the brother of dancer Isadora Duncan and artist-craftsman who connected his art with everyday life. During the project, a series of performative practices and actions will be activated, taking place in the broader space of the Isadora and Raymond Duncan Dance Research Center. Through the co-creation of a week (January 2-7) of artistic "cohabitation," the -ΟΙκΩ- ΚινΩ- team aims to renegotiate the ties and traces of Duncan's history in the present. It aims to create a choreography in the expanded sense of the term, a relational field of experience that has the potential to move, to be moved, and to move as an autonomous organism composed of the multiple relationships between bodies, the personal and collective needs, thoughts, dreams, and desires of those present.

The presentation went through the historical context of body weather as a choreographic practice of Min Tanaka in the body weather farm, established in the 80s. Hands-on agricultural work was integrated with everyday tasks into training process for dancing/farming bodies. Tanaka believed that engaging in these activities within their natural environments provided invaluable lessons for dance students. This approach challenged the conventional view that the environment should play a secondary role to the student’s technique, highlighting instead that the physical and sensory experiences of these tasks could serve as a profound teacher in itself. Further, I presented my research trajectory that aims to place body weather back to the agricultural context, and took the audience through my process of exploration on how small-scale, sustainable farming and performance practices can support each other in struggle and allyship. 

Duncan Dance Research Center

The Living Project

Athens, Greece

January 2024

Body weather presentation as performance practice in rural contexts.

Papigion Project space, a second hand plant nursery in the center of Athens led by performance artist, florist and horticulturist Achilleas Chariskos. 

Presented at: papigion project space | february 2022

Athens, Greece